CHAPTER 11: LONDON, ENGLAND
Monday, September 27

Tomorrow is Janis's birthday. I won't say which one, but will say that it's a biggie. We had thought we'd take a quick trip to Paris to see what it's like, and celebrate her birthday there, but after looking into the logistics we decided to just stay here in London. Janis has heard about some shops downtown that she just has to check out (does that surprise you?) and then we'll probably do one of her favorite things: see a movie. I'm going to let her decide what we'll do.

Sunday we went to Greenwich. We'd heard it was the place to go, and it was. On Sunday's there are a lot of different open-air markets for antiques, books, arts & crafts, and just plain junk. We saw the original Cutty Sark clipper ship and the Gypsy Moth IV, which was a small sailboat that set a number of speed records that still stand. I found two print galleries that had some excellent etchings and bought two. Then we wandered around Greenwich Park, which was a favorite for centuries of kings and queens. That evening we had dinner in (of all things) an outstanding Tex-Mex restaurant. Great weather: no rain, plenty of sun, and perfect temperatures. A perfect day all around.

Today we went into the city. It was a wet day. We went to the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery since I needed a good art fix. We strolled through St. James Park and window-shopped in Trafalgar Square. Late in the afternoon we ate dinner at a pizza joint just off the square. Despite the rain, it was a very enjoyable day.

We're in the process of buying a car. It's an '89 Range Rover. Trying to shuffle money between various accounts to actually pay for it has been a frustrating experience. All the different offices involved (our credit union, stock broker, the local bank, and so on) never seem to tell you the whole story up front. So you get a plan together and get halfway into it and then some third-rank clerk will say “Oh, you can't do that!”. We've been working on it for a week now and it appears that we've got it licked but we won't know until it's ours.

British TV game shows sure are different from American ones. We just watched one in which the game itself was boring, but the host is a skinny drag queen in a Dolly Parton wig and slinky sequined gown, and he's a hoot. This'll never play in Peoria, Mabel!

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